B.C. bud hangs in the balance, as California casts marijuana vote

VANCOUVER – As Californians go to the polls Tuesday night, they won’t
just be deciding the future of marijuana in their state – the vote may also
rattle the booming B.C. bud industry.

Californians will vote Tuesday during the midterm elections on Proposition
19, which would allow adults 21 and older to have up to 28.5 grams of marijuana
and to grow pot at a private residence in a space as large as 25 square feet
for personal use.

If the law passes, B.C.’s illegal pot industry – which generates between $3
billion and $7 billion a year – could take a big hit, says Darryl Plecas, a
criminology professor at B.C.’s University of the Fraser Valley.

“One way to look at it is mass layoffs,” he says.

Plecas, who has studied the effect of B.C. bud for more than a decade, says
if California goes green there will be fewer people needed to cultivate the
drug in B.C. because the state is a major market for B.C. bud.

With a population of about 36 million, California has been a particularly important market because the further south pot travels, the higher the price it yields, says Plecas.